Type casting machine



Sept 6, 1938. R. B. CHASE TYPE'GASTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 23, 1937 n.nl..

Patented Sept. 6, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE 2 Claims.

. to accomplish movement of the crucible with respect to the reservoirto thereby facilitate access to certain elements of the reservoir andthus reduce the time consumed in removal and replacement of theseelements for the purpose of cleansing said elements.

It is an additional object of the invention to construct the crucible sothat it may readily be associated with the type casting machine and bebodily removed from the machine.

It is another object of this invention to provide a crucible having theabove characteristics with means for regulating the feeding of the metalfrom the crucible to the reservoir in accordance with the amount ofmetal withdrawn from the reservoir, this means being automaticallyoperable to prevent feeding of metal to the reservoir to thus allowmovement of the crucible relatively to the reservoir and other elementsof the type casting machine without fear of the dis- V charge of moltenmetal and consequent injury to o" the Workman whose duty it is tomaintain the machine in proper condition.

It is an object of the invention to` provide the crucible with meanssuch as a iioat or other device operable by the amount of metal in thereser- Voir to control feeding of the molten metal from the crucible andto combine therewith means for rendering the iioat ineffective tooperate the valve and permit the latter to automatically close and lthusprevent accidental discharge of metal from the crucible when the latteris moved out of cooperation with the reservoir to expose the abovementioned elements of the type casting machine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means whereby thefloat may be arranged in the manner and for the purpose just referredto, and thus allow unitary movement thereof with the crucible.

It is another object of the invention to provide a separable connectionbetween said float andthe valve for controlling flow of metal from thecrulible to thus allow the crucible to be moved with respect to thefloat to thereby provide means which compensates for a conditionpreventing unitary movement of the float and crucible.

The invention has these and other objects all 0f which will be explainedin detail and more readily understood when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing which illustrates one embodiment of which theinvention is susceptible, it being understood that the changes andmodications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theappended claims forming a part hereof.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of a type castingmachine showing the device applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the crucible shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. l.

The invention is designed primarily for use with a type casting machineand particularly with the reservoir which supplies metal to the molds.Machines of this character include a reservoir, having a pump forfeeding molten metal to the mold, this pump requires daily attention andremoval from the reservoir for cleansing purposes. The crucible whichsupplies molten metal to the reservoir is stationarilly mounted withrespect to the reservoir and other elements of the type casting machineit being bolted in place thus requiring complete separation from thetype casting machine in order to accomplish access to the pump in orderto cleanse the latter. This operation Consumes a period of time which ismaterially reduced by the structure herein shown and described. Thisreservoir is designated i@ and involves the use of the pump generallydesignated i I having a pump shaft l2, the latter being connected withone arm such as i3, of the bell crank lever generally designated M. Thisbell crank lever has an arm l5 which is provided with a roller i6 forcooperation with the cam il, the latter causing movement of the bellcrank lever and actuation of the pump il. The cam il drives the bellCrank lever in one direction it being actuated in the opposite directionthrough the agency of the Coil spring I8. This bell crank lever ispivotally connected at I9 to the bracket generally designated 2li, whichis secured to the main frame of the type casting machine. This bracket2i] has an apertured boss 2l provided for the reception of the mold disclever shaft of the type casting machine, this shaft is removed and thecrucible hanger 22 is substituted therefor. This hanger 22 supports thecrucible 23 for swinging movement. Usually those structures employed formelting the metal and bringing it to a iiuid state, so that it i may befed to the reservoir or melting pot li), are stationarily mounted withrespect to the type casting machine and thus require separation anddisassociation from the main frame of the type Casting machine beforeaccess may be had to the pump and pump shaft, thus making it diiiicultand more or less laborious in order to permit of access to the pump andpump shaft respectively designated il and I2 to accomplish cleansing ofthese elements. Since these last mentioned elements must be cleansed atleast once a day, it becomes obvious that considerable time is lost inperforming this necessity and that by providing a structure which may bereadily moved with relation to the reservoir or melting pot lll withoutremoval or disassociation from the type casting machine, accessibilityto these elements is more conveniently effected, which reduces the timeperiod necessary in order to remove and cleanse the elements of the pumpsuch as li and l2. The crucible generally designated 23 is provided withmeans 24-24 which are passed over the end of the hanger 22 and thusprovide means whereby the Crucible is hinged, permitting said crucibleto be arranged in a position relatively to the elements H and i2 in amanner to facilitate accessibility to them to accomplish their removalfrom the reservoir MJ.

The crucible generally designated 23 consists of an outer casing 25, anda melting pot 26, which are insulated from each other through the mediumof the insulation 2. The outer casing 25 extends below the bottom of thepot 25 and provides a housing for a heating element generally designated28, which in the present instance consists oi a gas burner having theregulator 29, the valve 3l) and the hose connection or nipple 3 l.

The structure just described includes a cover generally designated v32,consisting of two elements respectively designated 33 and 34, the latterbeing hinged at 35, to permit this portion 34 of the cover to be movedto allow metal slugs and shavings to be introduced to the crucible. Theportion 33, is provided with a vent opening 36, to allow escape of fumesfrom the interior of the crucible. The bottom of the pot 26 is providedwith a tubular extension 3l' which provides an outlet from the pot 25 ofthe kcrucible to feed metal to the reservoir l0. This tubular extension31, is provided with the valve seat 33, with which the needle: of thevalve 39, is adapted to coopera-te, to control the flow of metal throughsaid valve. The stem 40 of the needle valve 39, is mounted for guidancein the member 4i and said stem is connected with the lever arm 42 at 44,said lever arm being pivoted at 43. The lever arm 42 projects beyond thecasing of the crucible and is connected with the float rod 44, thelatter being provided with a float 45 which is arranged in the meltingpot or crucible iii and is provided to actuate the needle valve 39, inaccordance with variations in depth of the molten metal contained in themelting pot or reservoir Il). The float rod generally designated 44 iscomprised of two sections 46 and 4l, which are connected with each otherthrough the agency of the turn buckle 48, which provides means forvarying the position of the float in the reservoir. The iioat rod 46 isconnected with the lever arm 42 through the agency of a separableconnection 49, to thus disconnect the iioat and lever and allow thevalve 39 to automatically close.

To provide the separable connection just referred to, the upperextremity oi the section 46 is formed with an` eyelet 53, which ispassed over the end lever arm 42, it being held in the position thereofshown in Fig. 2 through the agency of the separable pin 5l. It will benoted that one portion of the arm 42, such as that extending between thestem 4B and the pivot 43, is of a greater length than that portionextending from the pivot 43 to the float rod, and thus when theconnection between the lever 42 and the rod 44 is separated, the valvecomprised of the seat 38 and needle 39 will be automatically Closed andthus prevent escape of molten metal from the crucible when the latter ismoved from the position thereof shown in Fig. 1, to a position to exposethe elements such as the bell crank lever I3 and the piston shaft l2.

Means is provided for locking the valve lever arm 42 in this lastmentioned position. This means in the present instance consists of theelement 52 which is pivotally connected to the cover of the crucible at53 it being movable Crosswise of the lever arm 42, and paralleltherewith to thus lock and release the lever arm. Means is provided toguide the lower end of the oat rod generally designated 44. This meansis designated 54 and is in the present instance formed of a pair ofspring fingers 55,- which will allow the Crucible and other elementssuch as the lever 42 to be disconnected from said float rod and be movedin unison with relation to the float rod 44, should a condition at anytime exist in which the float rod is held in the reservoir againstmovement with the crucible. Manifestly the structure just referred towill also allow the oat and rod to be separated from the crucible and beremoved from the reservoir should this be found desirable.

The invention also contemplates the provision of means whereby the floatrod and the iloat may be removed from the melting pot or reservoir i andbe held in an elevated position, to thereby allow the oat rod to bemoved in unison with the crucible, when the latter is moved upon thepivots 24-24. To this end a forked spring bracket 56 is provided for thereception of the float rod 44, after the connection generally designated49 has been uncoupled, it being understood that the iloat and iioat rod44 are elevated and arranged with respect to the spring element 56 sothat a portion thereof such as the turn buckle is arranged forCooperation with the element 55 to thereby hold and retain the float andfloat rod in an elevated position which thus allows unitary movement ofthe iioat and iioat rod with the Crucible as above explained.

The heating element generally designated 28 is provided with a tubularextension 5l which is arranged adjacent the feed pipe 31, to thus heatsaid pipe 3T and thus melt any solidified metal left in the cruciblefrom the previous. days operations.

From the foregoing explanation of the invention it is believed manifestthat an arrangement is provided whereby the crucible may be positionedto feed molten metal to the reservoir I0 and in addition may be movedwith relation to the reservoir and other elements of the type castingmachine so as to expose the bell crank lever i3 and the pump shaft i 2resulting in greater ac- Cessibility to these last mentioned elementsand a saving in time to accomplish cleansing of the pump Il.

It is further manifest that when movement of the Crucible 23 relativelyto the reservoir I0 is desired, and the oat is lifted from thereservoir, or the connection between the float rod and valve mechanismis separated the valve controlling ow of metal through the pipe 31 willautomatically close, which thus eliminates the possibility of escape andburning of the person or operator whose duty it is to maintain the pumpI I in an operable condition.

It is further manifest that the separable connection provided betweenthe float rod and the valve mechanism provides means whereby thecrucible may be moved with respect to the reservoir I0 with the metal inthe reservoir I0 in a solidified condition should the float have beeninadvertently left in the reservoir I0.

Having thus described the invention what I claim and desire to cover byLetters Patent is:

l. In combination with a type casting machine including a reservoirarranged to deliver molten metal thereto and a crucible pivotallymounted to said machine and adapted to feed molten metal by gravity tosaid reservoir, a oat actuated valve for controlling the feeding of themetal to said reservoir, said valve and its actuating mechanism beingmounted upon and carried solely by the crucible to swing out ofoperative position when the Crucible is pivoted with relation to thereservoir, safety means for positively closing said valve before thecrucible can be swung out of its operative position, and a lock formaintaining said valve in its closed position and against accidentalopening while the Crucible is outside of its operating position. 1 y

2. In combination with a type casting machine including a reservoirarranged to deliver molten metal thereto and a crucible pivotallymounted to said machine and adapted to feed molten metal by gravity tosaid reservoir, a heater arranged to supply heat to said crucible, afloat actuated valve operable from the reservoir for controlling thefeeding of the metal from the crucible to said reservoir, said valve andits actuating mechanism being mounted upon and carried solely by thecrucible to swing out of operative position when the crucible is pivotedwith relation to the reservoir, safety means for positively closing saidvalve before the crucible can be swung out of its operative position,and a lock for maintaining said valve in its closed position.

RUTHERFORD B. CHASE.

